Team,
This edition of UNDERSEA WARFARE Magazine highlights our interest in staying engaged in the Arctic — an area of the world that will only grow in importance as new navigation routes and natural resources become available. Those of you who are experienced Undersea Warriors will know that we've had a long relationship with the Arctic, operating in this region regularly since USS Nautilus transmitted her historic message, "Nautilus: 90 North," on August 5th, 1958.

Since that time, we've done more than 25 ice exercises (ICEXs) in the Arctic, expanding our ability to navigate, communicate and operate in this challenging area of the world. We will continue to stay engaged, doing what the Submarine Force does most effectively for the U.S. Navy — getting on point, gaining awareness of the environment, walking the terrain and sending information back to the rest of the Navy and Joint Force. By virtue of our dedicated long-term efforts, if called on short notice, we'll be there, and we'll know what we're doing — read more about it inside.

The big news since my last letter is that the Submarine Force has promulgated the Design for Undersea Warfare. This is our framework for action in operations and warfighting, now and into the future. The Design outlines three major lines of effort:

Much has been made of the Future Force Capabilities line of effort, and for good reason. It outlines our plan for platforms, payload volume, payloads, people and force posture — the "five P's" — in the future. For those looking for our acquisition and investment strategies, this is where you find our priorities.

But as the Type Commander, I'm also super-excited about the Ready Forces and Effective Employment lines of effort. Here is where we unleash the creativity and initiative of the Force to push our warfighting ability to new levels. It is here that we harness all undersea forces to identify what we must do more of, what we must change, and what we must eliminate, to become better — more effective — weapons in the nation's arsenal.

This is not a passive endeavor. We all must actively look for ways to align our energies in this effort—to put our shoulders to the task and push. We must look for new ways to inspire and train ourselves and our teams to dominate potential enemies to the point where they choose not to take up the fight. That's how deterrence happens.

I am very confident that once we get this flywheel spinning, we'll see the incredible levels of performance that will keep our potential enemies back on their heels. Our Undersea Forces will continue to own the undersea domain. There are no havens or bastions we can't penetrate to establish undersea superiority. As you can see in this issue, that includes the Arctic.